Dairon Asprilla loves scoring goals against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Asprilla’s previous one was a bicycle kick stunner in 2021, and his latest was a header in the 71st minute that propelled the Portland Timbers to a 2-1 victory over San Jose on Saturday night at Providence Park.
With the win, the Timbers (7-6-9, 30 points) ascend into the 7th and final MLS Cup playoff spot with two additional games yet to be played across the league on Sunday, and one that matters for Portland in the standings: If the LA Galaxy win against Atlanta United, they will move into a tie with the Timbers in points.
“I feel very proud of the team,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “When you play this type of team, they have a lot of young players that come and give you a lot of energy and fight. It’s difficult to be able to play. I’m just extremely proud of the players to be able to achieve this victory today. We needed these three points.”
Portland struggled to finish in the first half against San Jose, putting up nine shots but never quite breaking through. San Jose, however, cashed in on its best opportunity and led 1-0 at the break.
“We gave them too much space and allowed them to possess,” Savarese said. “It became difficult. The final part of the first half became difficult because we were chasing.”
The highlights of the first half for Portland were tremendous saves from Aljaz Ivacic in the 9th and 27th minutes. Otherwise, the Timbers would find themselves once again in situations of having strong attacking moments, but not being able to finish them off.
San Jose’s goal came in the 42nd minute after three Timbers picked up yellow cards in two minutes: Josecarlos Van Rankin, Yimmi Chara and Claudio Bravo. The Earthquakes scored as Benjamin Kikanovic cleaned up the mess in front of goal and put it home.
“In the second half, we were the better team,” Savarese said. “We came in, we played very well, we pressed them higher, we defended well, and in the few moments that they found something, (Ivacic) was excellent in putting the saves he needed to put in.”
Down 1-0 at the half, Portland came out in the second 45 with a renewed sense of vigor and focus on the attack. After some near chances, the Timbers evened things up at 1-1 in the 53rd minute as Diego Chara’s shot bounced off Jaroslaw Niezgoda and in.
Niezgoda was credited for the goal, but he shrugged his shoulders and lifted his arms half-heartedly knowing it was purely a right place, right time situation. Chara celebrated with him sporting a wide smile.
“We changed a little bit the mentality in the second half,” Chara said. “We were more aggressive in some areas on the field, and I think we made the difference.”
Physicality remained well into the second half. After two San Jose players received yellow cards, Asprilla picked up one of his own in the 67th minute.
Niezgoda nearly got in the scorebook again in the 69th minute, displaying some nifty footwork to get open for the shot that was saved.
Asprilla’s goal in the 71st minute became the moment of the match. On a perfect feed in from substitute Santiago Moreno, Asprilla put a header in the back of the net and celebrated with a backflip, followed by a bow to the Timbers Army.
English is Asprilla’s second language after Spanish, but he made the effort to speak fully in English for the entirety of hist postgame news conference — much to the delight of Timbers staffers in attendance, who applauded him.
“The backflip is my celebration,” Asprilla said. “I love this. My mom says, ‘No more, please.’ But for me, I like it. I have emotion every time, and that is no problem for me.”
Portland led 2-1 and sought more. It wasn’t able to find another goal, however, and fresh-legged substitutes including Felipe Mora and Bill Tuiloma — along with a locked-in Ivacic — kept the Earthquakes from scoring the equalizer on the other end.
The post did its job, too, as a dangerous shot from San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza took a wild bounce off the post and to safety. It was very nearly the tying score for the Earthquakes, as Ivacic got the slightest edge of his finger on it to send the ball into the post.
For Portland, Mora nearly had a goal on a flip shot fed in from Bravo in the 87th minute, but it was narrowly saved.
Portland’s next match is on the road at third-place Minnesota United (10-8-4, 34 points), with kickoff scheduled for noon PT on Sunday (TV on ABC).
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com